Friday, July 31, 2009

Overflow


"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13

This is exactly where i am at. I am praying about this new job possibility, but i know that God has provided me with joy and peace about either. This is a good place to be. Thank you Lord.

Apple Pie



Grandma's Apple Pie

Crust: (This is the recipe Doubled)
4 cups flour
2 cups crisco
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup cold water
Mix together with your hands until you have a dough. Divide dough in half, set one half aside. Flour your work surface and roll out into a circle. When you have your circle big enough to cover the pie pan roll onto the rolling pin away from you, pull your pie pan in front of you and unroll the crust off the pin onto the pan.
Pie:
4 cups Apples
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup flour
1 Tbsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1 Tbsp. Brandy
4 Tbsp. Butter
Toss everything except the butter together in a bowl. Pour into Pie pan. Top with dabs of butter. Roll out your second crust and either continue as before or cut into 1" strips and form a lattice on top. Bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour or until bubbly in the middle.

EASY dinner


Crockpot BBQ Chicken & Corn on the cob
2 Chicken breasts
5 large basil leaves
1 bottle BBQ sauce
1 Beer
juice of 1 lime
Toss into the crock pot on low for 4 hours... Nick loved it! Not pictured is the PB&J sandwhich i had! HAHA!
Mom's butter is on top of the corn... mmm...mmm... good!

Hot molten cake



Our favorite Dessert. SO not good for us, but delicious none the less.
Cake:
1 ½ teaspoons unsalted butter plus ¼ pound (1 stick)
2 Tablesspoons cocoa powder
6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons cold heavy cream
2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
¼ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch salt
Whipping Cream:
½ cup cold heavy cream
2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon nut-flavored liqueur
¼ cup nuts
½ pint fresh raspberries

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Grease and flour 4 (6-ounce) ramekins or baking dishes with the 1 1/2 teaspoons of butter and 1 teaspoon of sweetened cocoa in each, tapping out the excess flour. Set on a baking sheet. Split the ¼ cup of the nuts in the bottom of each ramekin. In a double boiler, or a metal bowl set over a pan of simmering water, melt the remaining 1/4 pound of butter with the chocolate, cream, and powdered sugar, stirring until smooth. Remove from the heat. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, sugar, vanilla, and salt until thick ribbons form, about 3 minutes. Sift 2 tablespoons flour into the egg mixture and fold together. Fold the chocolate into the egg mixture. Divide among the prepared dishes and bake until the sides of the cake are set and the tops are puffed but still soft, about 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool in the ramekins for 2 minutes, then unmold onto dessert plates. Meanwhile, in a bowl whip the cream until beginning to form soft peaks. Add the sugar and nut liqueur and beat until stiff peaks start to form. Spoon a dollop of the whipped cream on each unmolded cake, and garnish each plate with raspberries.
Serves 4

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Quitting the cake business








Sorry about the sideways pictures, but i guess it fits the story that they won't post correctly. I decided that making cakes isn't fun anymore. I like doing them when i have time, not squeezing every second i have to make a cake for a birthday party for people i don't know and not make any money on top of it. This was the last straw. No my sharks did not turn out like the ones in the book, not even close. The frosting didn't melt correctly and it wasn't deep enough to dunk the sharks plus the twinkies are way too top heavy, they all fell over while i took a short nap. I was not happy. This also happened when i made the penguins out of this Hello,Cupcake book. Okay Karen Tack and Allen Richardson this is not cool. I think i am pretty handy around the kitchen. I can usually create things like in their book but 3 out of 4 of the things i have tried IN their book did not turn out. I made the puppies, penguins, sharks and sunflower pot. AND come to think of it the Sunflower pot only turned out because i stopped reading the book. I used my own pastry bags and tips instead of the ziploc like they suggested. DISSAPOINTED!
Side note, the banana nut cupcakes that i made for Nick's class (for fun) did turn out. Homemade Cream cheese frosting is good on anything though. Especially when the cupcakes were fresh out of the oven, it was literally better than cinnabon!








Last week we enjoyed a Summer Squash Tart. Inside was Zucchini, Yellow Squash, Tomatoes, Turkey Sausage and cheese, very tasty.
1 Tbsp. EVOO
1 lb. squash (mix zucchini/squash)
2 turkey sausages
2 shallots, thinly sliced
2 tsp. fresh thyme
1 clove chopped garlic
fresh pepper
1 refrigerated pie crust
4 oz. blue cheese
1 roasted red pepper cut into stripps
1 large plum tomato sliced
1 large egg beaten
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium. Add squash, shallots and turkey. Cook 7 minutes or until squash is crisp/tender. Remove from heat, stir in thyme garlic and pepper. Cool to room temp.
Heat oven to 400, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and unroll the pie crust onto the paper. Crumble half the cheese over the crust, arrange filling in the center of the crust to 2in. away from the edge. Fold edge of crust over onto the top of the pie and brush with the egg. Bake 35-40 min. Crumble remaining cheese on top and serve.
Tonight we will have Basil Salmon.My mom's butter recipe on top of the salmon. A side salad of grilled cherry tomatoes, basil and mozzerella and pesto bread sticks. I am looking forward to Nick getting home so i can have a taste!
Mom's Butter:
1 stick butter at room temp.
2 cloves garlic (mom probably uses more)
6 Large Basil Leaves
Mix together and spoon out onto a piece of wax paper. Roll into a log and refrigerate for one hour. Take out and roll into dried Basil. Serve.
Great idea mom!

Comfort food

I took a stab at making Nordstrom's Tomato Soup. I think it was pretty good even if it wasn't Nordstrom's.
1 Can Tomato Soup
1 cup finely shredded carrots
3 Tbsp. Buttermilk/whatever milk you have
4 Whole Basil Leaves
Salt , Pepper and Red Chili Flakes

I Made this soup with a side sandwhich. I used 9 grain bread and laid a few basil leaves on it, then added Mozzerella and topped it with a slice of Tomato (for Nick, mine was tomato less) We both enjoyed the lunch on a rainy saturday!

Monday, July 20, 2009




Adorable baby boy! I got the opportunity to babysit Jakob while his parents and my hubby went snowboarding. He was the best (and best smelling) baby! He just played, ate and slept! It is weird, you would think that this would be bad for my desire for babies! BUT... it really made me miss my mommy. I want mom there for all of the moments! I want to be able to take my baby to my mom's house to babysit, i want mom and day to be able to smell my baby and cherish the first smiles and the spit bubbles and... everything that makes the whole experience so special. Of course right when i say all of this to Nick (like that i am ready to wait 2 years) he decides that he is ready to have babies once i graduate! Why are we off timing? Oh well, we still have time to think and Pray and wonder. For now i am extremely happy to just be married to my best friend.


New additions













Curtains, showpillow, and posters a perfect activity for a rainy day!


Thursday, July 9, 2009

E-I-E-I-O party












This cake and cupcakes (not shown) were for a little boy's E-I-E-I-O themed birthday party. He doesn't eat candy and loves bananas so i made a banana cake and zucchini chocolate cupcakes! I was dissapointed with the barn... but the one i made was too big! BUMMER!



Sunday, July 5, 2009

My favorites

I want to live with them... or at least closer than COUNTRIES apart! I miss this.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Everybody loves a good meal


4th of July Cheesecake! I love me some cheesecake, i contemplated not bringing it and eating it all!


Peanut Butter topped Chocolate rice krispy treat for Nick

My first Pear Tartlet



Best Dinner i have ever made.
Salmon with Grilled Nectarines.




I love the look and good feeling of having a fresh bowl of fruit on the counter!



Stupid Maastricht


Was the drive really worth it? I am going to go with ... no! 480 Euro ticket! Are you serious! That should be an offense, stealing money from the poor Americans! There is no way i was following too close, and NO WAY i was following close enough to justify $600! I am now contemplating being a fugitive in the Netherlands.

Dean Koontz is a good man


GOOD BOOK! I read it in less than 24 hours... yes i couldn't put down the 400 page book for the life of me. I love that feeling!
Next up: The Shack by William P. Young
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...